Lady Trojans romp to region title

Lady Trojans romp to region title

Hannah Wyatt and Summer Lanter paired up for three goals in Soddy-Daisy's 6-1 soccer win over Cookeville on Thursday, which gave the Lady Trojans a fourth straight Region 3-AAA championship.

"It's just natural for me to play the ball and for her to go at it," Wyatt said. "When I get the ball, my instinct is to find Summer, and it's become instinct for us to find each other."

Wyatt scored as well, as did Natalie Smith and Baylee Burke, while keeper Haley Myers allowed an irrelevant second-half goal.

Soddy-Daisy had such control of the game that Wyatt and Lanter exited the game for good with more than 25 minutes left to play.

"We didn't even play badly, and that's the thing," Cookeville coach Sam Matson said of his 14-5-2 team. "Soddy is in really good goal-scoring form right now."

Soddy-Daisy (17-2-2) will host the Region 4-AAA runner-up -- either Oakland or Siegel -- on Saturday evening. Cookeville will visit that winner.

"We've peaked at the right time," Wyatt said. "We know how we can play and we did. Goals just kept coming. Now I can't wait for Saturday."

Wyatt slipped a pass through two defenders to Lanter, who easily lobbed a shot over Cookeville keeper Skyler Smith less than three minutes into the game.

Wyatt scored a few minutes later for a 2-0 lead and assisted Lanter once more in the first half, and Natalie Smith scored just before halftime on an assist from Megan Weller for a 4-0 lead at the break. Lanter later extended her impressive string of hat-trick games.

"I didn't think until yesterday about what an honor it would be to win four straight region championships," Wyatt said. "It's a big deal for the seniors."